T-Mobile Exec: We Are Not Going To Get The iPhone 5 This Year

This year could soon become one of disappointment for T-Mobile customers. Just weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice indicated that it would fight against the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, comes word the No. 4 carrier in the U.S. might not be getting the iPhone this year, according to news first reported by TmoNews.

Speaking at a town hall meeting for T-Mobile employees, Chief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman made it clear his company would not be selling the iPhone 5, at least in 2011.

He stated, very clearly we might add, that:

“We are not going to get the iPhone 5 this year.”

Of course, as TmoNews then stated:

We could read a lot into the “this year” portion of the statement. Does that mean an iPhone 4/4S is coming to T-Mobile this year or is a deal in place for T-Mobile to launch an iPhone in 2012? There is a lot of ways to interpret his statement but one thing seems certain, no iPhone 5 for T-Mobile anytime before midnight on December 31st.

T-Mobile: No iPhone 5 This Year

Assuming Brodman’s comment is correct, this would be a huge blow for T-Mobile. Under this scenario, the company would go into the 2011 holiday season without Apple’s latest handset, even though previous rumors suggested the opposite.

And of course, this comes just weeks after the U.S. decided it would attempt to block the sale of T-Mobile to the No. 2 carrier, AT&T. This deal, which was first announced earlier this year, would make the combined AT&T-T-Mobile the country’s largest carrier and ahead of current No. 1 Verizon.